What You'll Do

The power of Advocacy Teams comes from the strong relationships we build with Congress grounded in mutual respect and listening.

You will build an ongoing relationship with your members of Congress.

You will learn how to work with the media to see the news you want.

You will foster a network of advocates in your community.

You will help your members of Congress become champions for peace and justice.

You will change Washington for the better.

6 Steps to Starting an Advocacy Team

1. Tell us you’re interested

Think Advocacy Teams are the right fit for you? The first step is easy: answer a few questions at fcnl.org/getstarted and we’ll get in touch to start you on steps 2-5!

2. Take the leap

We’ll support you to host an advocacy workshop that starts your team with momentum. To prepare, gather 3-8 people to join a one-hour Host Committee call with FCNL. We’ll introduce you to the Advocacy Teams program and get you started with recruiting the 15-30 people for an advocacy workshop.

3. Launch a team

An FCNL staff member will lead a workshop in your community. The group will dive into our approach to advocacy, the campaign, and effective grassroots tools for social change. All you have to do is bring the people, find a location, and provide some simple supplies. You and FCNL decide whether to move forward with a team.

4. Build your skills

New teams take part in a one-time series of four trainings to build your team’s structure and get you ready to lobby as a group.

5. Sustain the momentum

Meet in person with your team once a month around a national call to hear from experts, celebrate, and learn from other advocates. In these meetings, you’ll take action and plan for the month to come. One or more delegates from each team join an additional call twice a month for legislative updates, training, and collaboration.

6. Make real change

Advocacy Teams act for change on a regular basis, using lobbying and media engagement as their tools. In the first two months, FCNL Advocacy Teams organized 80 lobby visits and published 30 letters to the editor in support of the Iran nuclear deal. Since then, the network of teams expanded rapidly, growing ten times bigger and taking on campaigns for criminal justice reform and a moral budget.

Join a Team

Option 1: Join an existing team

Is there a team near you? Email maiya@fcnl.org to get in touch with the team, and listen to a recorded call introducing you to the program.

Option 2: Find an advocacy workshop

We may be in the process of starting an Advocacy Team near you. Look for upcoming workshops in your area.

In 2018, Advocacy Teams are lobbying to stop nuclear war. Today’s confrontation with North Korea represents the most urgent risk of nuclear war in a generation. Many of us are watching the conflict unfold between the leaders of our countries and feeling helpless. But the reality is, not only are we not helpless, but 535 members of Congress have a constitutional responsibility to participate in the decision of whether or not we go to war. Our job in 2018 is to galvanize congressional voices to speak out against a war of choice.

Your Advocacy Can Change Washington

70 years of witness in Washington has shown us that when people talk to their representatives, change happens. A recent survey of hundreds of Congressional staff conducted by the Congressional Management Foundation confirms that in-person lobby meetings with constituents are the most effective way to influence the policy decisions of their members. That's why FCNL has been building our program to empower grassroots advocacy in order to foster congressional champions for peace and justice.

Advocacy Teams were founded in June, 2015, recognizing this need for deep, relationship-driven constituent advocacy. There are now dozens of teams with hundreds of people around the country.

Resources for Current Advocacy Team Members

Advocacy Teams can find lobbying, media, and organizing resources and report back on their work.

Maiya Zwerling

National Organizing Manager

As the National Organizing Manager, Maiya Zwerling works to
strengthen and deepen FCNL's grassroots. She founded and coordinates the FCNL Advocacy Teams,
a network of hundreds of Quakers and friends lobbying to build
congressional champions for peace and justice. Maiya oversees the 2018 grassroots campaign to prevent a war with North Korea.